Abbott Elementary Star Sheryl Lee Ralph Has Hallmark Roots

Sheryl Lee Ralph first landed a Hallmark role when she was selected to play Nadine in 2017's "Christmas at Holly Lodge." Since then, she's appeared in; "Christmas Comes Twice," (2020), "Fashionably Yours" (2020), and "Christmas in My Heart" (2021). In "Christmas Comes Twice," Ralph played Miss Nelson, a kindly science teacher. The role, in a sense, foreshadowed her future success as elementary school teacher Barbara Howard in "Abbott Elementary."

After portraying the role of the grandmother and stepmother in a mixed-race family, in "Christmas in My Heart," Ralph shared her delight in seeing the increased efforts for inclusion and diversity at Hallmark. "I had a conversation about how wonderful it would be if these heartwarming Christmas movies were more inclusive of all kinds of people," she told TheGrio. 

The actor continued, "It's been a wonderful change to see more and more people of color, different sorts of marriages, young and old, all coming together and especially the color Black, which sometimes is very hard for people to see.